Seven Tips From Small Businesswomen

You can trust that we maintain strict editorial integrity in our writing and assessments; however, we receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners and get approved. Here's how we make money.

In honor of National Women’s Small Business Month, we asked female small business owners to give us advice for others looking to follow in their footsteps. Although it can be more difficult for emerging businesswomen to find mentors than small businessmen because the industry is male-dominated, these tips are applicable for all genders.

Below, small businesswomen sound off on how they achieved their success!

1. Find a mentor and ask for help when you need it

“Mentorship should be sought out from all circles. These can be fellow entrepreneurs, maybe in a different industry, potential clients, bigger corporate owners who may give you inspiration and big pictures. The mentorship may be formal or informal–just keep at it.”

“The biggest tip I would give other women wanting to start their own businesses is to not be afraid to reach out and ask for help. Other women business owners are usually happy to offer advice and assistance when they can, but ask men too. Tell everyone you know what you are doing and what you need. You never know who might have a connection or have a solution to your problem.”

“I have office space from a women’s start-up organization, studio space offered by another established small businesswoman and inventory/shipping provided by another established businesswoman. These are the types of people that understand what you are going through and what you need to help you succeed during the start-up phase of a new business. I couldn’t do it without them.”

“Seek mentoring, absolutely. My first mentor was the father of one of my son’s first grade friends. Try traditional mentoring sources like SCORE, but don’t be discouraged if they don’t “get” your idea. Try to find women mentors in your industry whose businesses would not
be competitive with yours.”

2. Be a mentor

“Have a network of mentors. I have always believed in the importance of having mentors. I have a network of people both inside and outside of my industry that I can call when I have either a technical question or a business-related question. I find that people actually like to help and share their professional knowledge. By the same token, make yourself available for those that are up and coming in your industry.”

“I wish more women were available to mentor me. Unfortunately, many did not make themselves available, even after speaking about the importance of guiding the next generation at Power Women Breakfasts into which I used to sneak in.”

3. Confidence is key

“There is a big divide between confidence and arrogance. Confidence comes from a strong sense of self-worth and self-awareness. Arrogance comes from fear in many cases and a sense of entitlement in others. The best leaders are very confident in what they know and can do from an objective view, rather than an assumed view. These leaders continuously test themselves to see what they are capable of, stretching and growing and learning. At the same time, great leaders tend to be grounded, centered, stable people who are calm during a crisis, and rock solid in modeling their core values, particularly under pressure. A sure sign of this quality is when others say, “I always know and respect where (s)he stands, even if I disagree.”

“I think the most common mistake young woman make is to second guess themselves. Even if you ended up making the “wrong” decision these experiences are vital in our growth personally and professionally.”

4. Network

“I think networking is extremely important, especially among other female entrepreneurs. In my experience so far, fellow businesswomen have been very willing and excited to help another female business owner succeed – and, who knows, it might even lead to a success collaboration and/or partnership.”

“I have an address book filled with hundreds of people I may have only met once, or even just over email, but I hold on to their information for that time when what they do and what I need (or vice versa) could come together for a successful partnership.”

“I owe much of my success to networking. Without the support, advice and referrals of others, I wouldn’t have had as easy a time in reaching my desired goals. Networking opens the door to new business and opportunity but also provides enormous resources and insights otherwise unrealized.”

“Join professional organizations in your industry and go to a lot of their events, even if they don’t directly apply to you. Get rid of the idea of “networking” at these events. Networking implies a quid pro quo and that’s not what you’re doing here, you are building relationships. You may enjoy the friendly relationship of someone in your organization that cannot help you now. However, in ten years you two might be helping each other. If you’ve built a trusting friendship, they’ll want to help you, and you them. Networking is also great, so join some networking organizations. You’re all there for the same reason. Often they meet once a month for breakfast. Tell everyone about your business.”

“The community of women business owners is robust with mentors, colleagues, and team spirit if you take the time to find the groups that are a good fit for you. And that research period is key – every business group has a different dynamic and you need to shop around to find the one where you feel comfortable and able to connect.”

5. Trust Your Instincts

“Keep your own counsel. Most of us inherently know what’s best and what to do, yet we seek the counsel of others when really we’re looking for validation of our decisions. As women we tend to do that. Validation comes in the form of money from your customers. People will acknowledge your business through buying your products or services. That’s your validation. And always remember – you don’t have to take someone else’s advice. If that were true, Disney World wouldn’t exist today!”

“Remember yourself and your true voice as you get started. One mistake I made was to leave one miserable job working for someone else to another miserable job working for myself! I tried to fit my vision into the mold of others rather than remaining true to what I wanted to accomplish for others and myself. When I reconnected to my vision of helping women fully express themselves with authenticity and audacity, and allowed myself to trust my gut/inner guidance, my business started to take off.”

7. The timing will never be perfect—just start, even if you’re afraid of failure

“If you wait until everything is perfect, you’ll never do it. But make sure things
are as good as possible. If I had known how tough making my business viable would be, I
probably never would have done it. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.”

Heather Hermen, Front Burner Media
“My tips for small businesswomen would be to have a positive attitude, explore your opportunities, do research, and in the end- push through the fear. Fear can be the biggest thing to hold you back but if the fear propels you rather than holding you down, it will be a driving force in your business”

“As a business women who has been in business for 15 plus years my advice to others would be to go for their dreams in as big a way as possible, to always invest in themselves, to get a good business and marketing coach and to start everything sooner than they think because there will never be a right time to do things – things will never be perfect and there will always be reasons (read excuses) not to do things.”

Disclaimer: NerdWallet strives to keep its information accurate and up to date. This information may be different than what you see when you visit a financial institution, service provider or specific product’s site. All financial products, shopping products and services are presented without warranty. Additionally, this site may be compensated through third party advertisers. However, the results of our financial services tools, blog content and reviews are based on objective analysis. For more information, please see our Advertiser Disclosure.

Disclaimer: We do our best to keep information accurate and up to date, however even nerds make mistakes, and we cannot make guarantees regarding the accuracy of our information.

Advertiser Disclosure: Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from companies from which NerdWallet receives compensation. The results of our “card comparison and finder tool”, card assessments, and reviews are based on objective quantitative and qualitative analysis of card attributes. They are not affected by compensation. Compensation may impact which cards we review and write about and how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). While we try to feature as many credit cards offers on our site as we can maintain (1,700+ and counting!), we recognize that our site does not feature every card company or card available on the market. Additionally, our star ratings are a mix of user feedback and NerdWallet’s independent evaluation which are independent of compensation. For a list of all of our advertising partners, click here.

* Disclaimer: See the online credit card application for details about terms and conditions. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. When you click on the "Apply Now" button, you can review the credit card terms and conditions on the issuer's website.

Disclaimer: Discover is a paid advertiser of NerdWallet.com.

* Disclaimer: This editorial content, including card comparison and finder tool calculations, is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.